This novel in verse follows Amal. He has been accused and convicted of beating a white boy—Jeremy—into a coma. He did throw the first punch. He doesn’t deny that. Jeremy didn’t want people from Amal’s neighborhood on “his” basketball court. But...Amal did not throw the last punch. Amal saw things were going wrong, and Amal went home.

But he’s still in jail. He is still needing to find himself, his art, in the box that society has put him in.

A powerful novel.

Punching the Air is written in verse, and in such a way that the reader is automatically turning the page to find out more, to dig deeper into the injustices that are happening today - in real life, even up until the last page where they might find themselves asking, “But what’s next?!”

As an educator, this story hit home, especially when Zoboi and Salaam speak to the school to prison pipeline from the perspective of a teenage Black boy who is seeing this reality unfold before him, as if he is a pawn in the game of life. Amal finds himself wrongfully incarcerated, and the reader finds themselves cursing his situation.

Ibi Zoboi teams up with Yusef Salaam (one of the now-exonerated Central Park Five) to deliver a novel in verse about a young Black boy falsely convicted and sentenced to serve in a juvenile detention facility. Amal Shahid is a skater, a sensitive artist, and a poet, but the American justice system only sees him as an angry, violent thug, older than his years. While incarcerated, Amal uses his artistry and voice to keep himself sane in the face of brutality and dehumanization.

Punching the Air covers crucial topics-- America's broken justice system, racism, modern-day slavery upheld by the 13th Amendment-- and does so beautifully through moving poetry. Amal is a fully-realized, dynamic, and sympathetic character. However, I wish the story had been better developed; the narrative lacked direction and the ending was abrupt. This felt like a book that was written to make a point, rather than a story that conveys a message. Still a wonderful and important book, and absolutely worth the read.

TW: racism, N word, brutality inflicted by guards

This was powerful and beautifully written, and it carries both the weight and the lived experience of Yusef Salaam's life. I love Amal as a character and a narrator, and this is the sort of book that makes me want to go out and do more work to educate myself - art and poetry and prison abolition. An excellent novel in verse, an Own Voices story in a voice that I have never read before, and a very well done story.

Powerful and captivating, this is a book that young people will love. Readers who enjoyed Long Way Down will want to read this tragic, nuanced account of a teenager wrongfully incarcerated.

Amal is 16 year old and after being convicted of a crime he didn't commit, is sentenced time in a juvenile detention center.  This stunning verse novel chronicles Amal's time in the center with just lyrical grace that it becomes hard to put down.  At times, this novel is hard to read, but it is very important, as it discusses race, the justice system, and all of the inequality found in society today.  This book will definitely resonate with all kinds of readers and will be vital read for years to come.

This a truly powerful and emotional book that is a must read for adults and teens alike.

This book was a reminder of the systematic racism that lies within society. It shows how Black males are judged before they even get a chance to explain. They are judged by actions that are misinterpreted and crucified before clear understanding.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the eARC, as this has been on my most-anticipated list this year! Written by the incomprable Ibi Zoboi with Dr. Yusef Salaam, of the Exonerated Five, this novel in verse is POWERFUL, Rarely do authors get to have a say in their cover, but they managed to convey such emotion just with that image alone. I'm already ordering a set to use with our English 1 teachers, as there is so much for students to unpack, discuss, write about, and grapple with. I appreciated most of all that Amal's story is so nuanced and emotionally raw, dealing with such humanity and powerful, real, themes, and leaving space for readers to form opinions and sit and think about what's happening in the story, all the way to the end. A top pick of the year and likely making next year's ProjectLit list.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was a teenager during the trial and conviction of the Central Park case. I remember listening to how people outside my home talked about how “those kids” deserved what they got after what they did. Yet in my own home, I watched my mother shake her head in frustration and shared her disgust in conversations with friends. I was so far removed from New York living in the Midwest I didn’t understand the bigger picture at the time. I would understand later.

Therefore, when I saw a young adult book written by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam one of the men who is now known as “one of the exonerated five”, I needed to read it. The story isn’t about the Central Park case. However, it is about  the number of young men of color who are unjustly imprisoned. Sixteen year-old Amal, a poet and an artist, has hopes and dreams of one day sharing his art with the world. Instead a fight with a white kid has the possibility to change the trajectory of his life if proven guilty. A powerful and moving novel told in verse. It offers a look at the injustices often present in the American criminal justice system, the ways that young people can be terrorized within juvenile detention centers, and the systemic racism that forces them into silence and defensive behavior. 

This book was emotional and full of content that needs to be shared so the world can at some point begin to see what it is doing to some of its people. However, the writing was a bit rough and jumpy for me. Some of it simply didn’t flow well. However, spreading knowledge is always much more important than how it is written. Therefore, I would be happy to recommend this book to readers.

A novel in verse, written in captivating language, drawing the reader into the characters life, even before one realizes, they are so deeply entrenched in the story of a young teen wrongfully accused of murder.

The two authors teamed together to create a powerful, beautiful, authentic work. The raw emotion felt on the pages comes from its lyrical text and powerful symbolism. This not-to-be-missed novel-in-verse will pair well with nonfiction pieces in high school classes.

Thank you Balzer + Bray and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. I was so happy to receive this book since I love books written in verse and have enjoyed Pride by Ibi Zoboi. This story really fit into the stories we are seeing on the news and made the story feel so real. The writing was so lyrical and worked with all my senses that put me right into the story. I could not recommend this title enough. I would really like a sequel to see where our lovely and artistic character is now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins for the ARC.

Reading does not occur in a vacuum. I can't pretend that there weren't many outside events that affected my reading experience of this book. This book made me feel angry, frustrated, heartbroken, and hopeful all at once.

Anger at the American justice system, which is not just at all, most especially to Black men and boys. While reading Punching the Air, I have also been listening to The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. Amal's experience (and that of Yusef Salaam in real life) are portrayed almost exactly in The New Jim Crow. We have a justice system that rewards Black people for falsely declaring guilt and punishes them for telling the truth. A system that targets Black people because of false data and learned prejudice.

Frustration because, as we have seen over and over again in 2020, nothing has changed. The Exonerated Five, innocent Black boys, were targeted by a racist policing system in 1989. In 2020, innocent Black men are still being targeted by racist police. Most recently Jacob Blake, who fortunately was not killed, but may remain paralyzed for the rest of his life.

Heartbroken because for Black people the pain never ends. I found out about the death of Chadwick Boseman while I was finishing this book, and while it was very difficult for me to read about a Black man stolen in his prime from a vicious disease, I can't even imagine how painful it is for Black people to suffer yet another loss. This year alone has taken Kobe Bryant, John Lewis, and now Chadwick Boseman. All beacons of hope for not just Black people but for the world.

Hopeful because this book is necessary. It is important. It will be life-changing to some. It is beautiful and lyrical and so, so timely. It is personal but also universal. It is full of despair but also full of Amal's truth. His truth is that he is innocent, and it is one thing that keeps him going.

There were many lines that jumped out at me where I knew whatever Amal was going through at that moment, it was also something that Dr. Salaam had experienced during his time of being unjustly imprisoned. There are lines that are so poignant that I know only a person who has gone through was Amal and Dr. Salaam went through would be able to write such powerful words.

I am glad this book exists and that hopefully many people will read these words, but I am also sad that we live in a world where this book must exist. It is impossible to read this book and not also consider how the same things that happen in the book happen to Black people in the real world. Are still happening every day. But it is also impossible to forget that every day there are people fighting and working and protesting to end the violence and police brutality that Black people have fought against for hundreds of years.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone.

I can understand why this new YA free verse book is a bestseller, an exploration of a system that is built to break young Black men down but no one accounted for hope, love and art. Masterful and hard-hitting, one of the best books of the year #pernillerecommends

Amani. 
Innocent. 
Wrongfully convicted. 
Wrong place. 
Wrong time.
Artist. 
Friend. 
Student. 
Serving a sentence he doesn't deserve. 

Ibi Izoboi and Yusef Salaad of the Exonerated five explore so many different topics that plague our society today in this stunning novel in verse. The authors show readers what life is like serving a wrongful conviction, living through racism, and exposing the school-to-prison pipeline. But they also take a deep look at art. How art, poetry, drawing, painting can help people express themselves, heal, and provide them with hope. 

This novel does contain some string language, however, I would not let that stop me from putting it in my middle school classroom. I think it would be beneficial for more mature middle schoolers to read and definitely appropriate for high school students. Novels such as this one are so powerful, and deserve a space on every bookshelf. This book was released on Tuesday September 1st and is available anywhere you purchase books.

Amal is unjustly sentenced to prison - touches on racism, a boy's relationship with his mother (Umi in Arabic). This story is written in verse - there are some beautiful passages that made me pause for thought... and in addition to telling a story, isn't the point to make the readers feel what you, the writer, feel? I hope I am. It is a timely story, one that I will recommend to students - however, I feel like I would be more likely to recommend Dear Martin than Punching the Air. Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to preview #PunchingTheAir by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam.

My name is Amal / and Amal means / hope  means there / is still a tomorrow // But there's no future in these / four walls  four walls / boxing me in  boxing me in / so I punch the air // shadowbox with God / spar with all four of these / corners as if they are all / different versions of me

This is such an incredible novel — beautiful imagery in powerful verse. There are so many passages I wish I could quote, but I don't want to rob you of the impact of encountering them in context. If you're not into poetry, don't let that dissuade you. It's a quick read (unless you count the time you spend re-reading the parts you highlighted the first time through) and it delivers a clear narrative that touches on so many relevant contemporary issues. Racism and stereotyping and gentrification and the shortfalls in our education system and the school to prison pipeline and the judicial system and art and poetry and brotherhood and family and hope and love.

The surface story is relatively simple, although, as with any life, there's nothing really simple about it: Amal is a boy, a poet, a son, a skater, a student, an artist who is boxed in to the wrong place at the wrong time and is wrongfully arrested, charged, convicted, incarcerated. A process that is gut-wrenchingly and convincingly portrayed in all it's parallels to the processes of slavery. He struggles to hold on to his humanity, his voice, his art, his hope.

This would be perfect for class discussion and book clubs, but it's also perfect as a solo, sit-with-it read. It definitely crosses age groups: it could work for upper middle graders (especially those ready to move to something more personal and mature after reading "From the Desk of Zoe Washington") as well as YA and adults. It would pair well with Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Readers) and Stamped, and should appeal to readers of Jason Reynolds, Elizabeth Acevedo, Angie Thomas, and Ibi Zoboi's previous books.

Content notes: Racism, prejudice, physical violence, disturbing racist imagery, the N-word, police brutality

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam is a definite must read for everyone! I do not even think I have the right words to describe the beauty of this story! The story will capture your attention, live in your heart, and stay on your mind for a long time! I just ordered the audiobook to enjoy the story again in a different way. Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. If I could give more than a five star review, I would!

An excellent examination of systemic racism and the school-to-prison-pipeline. This novel-in-verse is a quick and harrowing read that underscores the ways in which institutionalized racism can ruin young lives.

One of the best stories I have read this year. Amal's story is simply one I won't soon forget. An outstanding YA verse novel.